Terminology and history

A Papal Nuncio (officially known as
an Apostolic Nuncio) is a permanent diplomatic representative (head
of diplomatic
mission) of the Holy See to a
state or international
organization (e.g., the Arab League),
having the rank of an ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary, usually with the ecclesiastical rank of titular
archbishop. Under the
1961
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a papal nuncio is an
ambassador like those from any other country. However, the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations allows the receiving
state to grant seniority of precedence to the papal nuncio over
others of ambassadorial rank accredited to the same country, and
may grant the deanship of that country's diplomatic corps to the
nuncio regardless of seniority.

In addition, the Nuncio serves as the liaison
between the Holy See and the Roman Catholic diocesan episcopate in
the nation or region to which he is assigned. The national or
regional episcopate is usually supervised by a national conference
of bishops, whose presiding officer is often the highest
ranking bishop or archbishop of that nation, or is elected from the
diocesean ordinaries of
the nation or region.

Formerly, the title Internuncio denoted a papal
diplomatic representative of the second class, corresponding to
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary as a title for
diplomatic representatives of states (cf. Article 14, par. 2 of the
1961
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations). Before 1829,
internuncio was the title applied instead to the interim head of a
mission when one Nuncio had left office and his replacement had not
yet assumed it.

A legate a
latere is a temporary papal representative or a representative
for a special purpose.

Historically, the most important type of apocrisiary (a title also
applying to representatives exchanged by a high prelate with a
Patriarch) was the equivalent of a nuncio, sent by the Pope to the
Byzantine
Empire; during the fifth and
sixth
centuries, when much of Italy remained under
Byzantine control, several Popes were former
apocrisiaries.

Pro-Nuncio was a term used from 1965 to 1991 for
a papal diplomatic representative of full ambassadorial rank
accredited to a country that did not accord him precedence over
other ambassadors and de jure deanship of the Diplomatic Corps in
accordance with the Vienna Convention. In those countries, the
papal representative's precedence within the corps is exactly on a
par with that of the other members of ambassadorial rank, so that
he becomes dean only on becoming the senior member of the
corps.

For nations with whom the Holy See has no
diplomatic ties, an Apostolic Delegate is sent to serve as a
liaison with the Roman
Catholic Church in that nation, though not accredited to the
government of the state. Apostolic delegates have the same
ecclesiastical rank as nuncios, but have no formal diplomatic
status, though in some countries they have some diplomatic
privileges. An apostolic delegate served as the papal
representative to the United
States and the United
Kingdom until both major Anglo-Saxon states with a
predominantly Protestant tradition established formal relations
with the Holy See in the late twentieth century, allowing for the
appointment of a Papal Nuncio (see the list of
British Ambassadors to the Holy See); Archbishop Pio Laghi, for
example, was first apostolic delegate, then pro-nuncio, to the
United States during the Jimmy
Carter, Ronald
Reagan, and George
H. W. Bush presidencies.

Apostolic delegates are also sent to regions such
as the West Indies
and the islands of the
Pacific. These delegates are also appointed nuncio to at least
some of the many states covered by their delegation, but the area
entrusted to them also contains one or more territories that either
are not independent states or are states that do not have
diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

Heads of mission shall take precedence in their respective
classes in the order of the date and time of taking up their
functions in accordance with Article 13.

Alterations in the credentials of a head of mission not
involving any change of class shall not affect his precedence.

This article is without prejudice to any practice accepted by
the receiving State regarding the precedence of the representative
of the Holy See.

In accordance with this article, many states
(even not predominantly Catholic ones such as Germany and
Switzerland and including the great majority in central and western
Europe and in the Americas) give precedence to the Nuncio over
other diplomatic representatives, according him the position of
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps reserved in other countries for
the longest-serving resident ambassador.

List of diplomatic posts of the Holy See

The Pope accredits
diplomats with the following states and other subjects of
international law (list as per Spring 2006):